SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT CENTER REACHES 40 YEAR MILESTONE

The Aberdeen Small Business Development Center (SBDC) office was recognized recently for 40 Years in Business by the Aberdeen Area Chamber Commerce.  The SBDC program began in South Dakota in 1985.  The Aberdeen office is one of seven across the state and is hosted by GROW South Dakota.  The recognition was presented at the Chamber’s Business After Hours event hosted by Northern Valley Communications on May 7, 2025.  

Kelly Weaver, SBDC Regional Director, offered a few comments.  “Over the past 40 years, the South Dakota SBDC has served tens of thousands of clients who have raised billions of dollars to start, grow or purchase a business in South Dako ta while creating or retaining over 40,000 jobs. We are here to help guide potential and existing entrepreneurs through the process of starting, buying or growing a business which can be daunting and complicated.   Each day we are inspired by the energy and ideas of our clients, and we are blessed to be able to shed light on the grey areas of their plans they haven’t fully considered yet so they can make better decisions.   We are grateful for our many referral sources including the Chamber, local lenders, economic development organizations and even past clients.”  

Weaver also mentioned that the SDSBDC is instituting a new brand consistent with their national organization, America’s SBDC.   While the log is new, it's still the same great people and programming that’s been around for 40 years! 

Part of the South Dakota SBDC Network, the Aberdeen SBDC office provides professional, confidential and no-cost business consulting to new and existing businesses.  Our goal is to help entrepreneurs realize their dream of business ownership and assist existing businesses in efforts to improve or expand through one-on-one counseling and business training.  SBDC is funded in part through the Small Business Administration and matched with state and local funds. The Aberdeen office is hosted by GROW South Dakota and serves 13 counties in NE SD.  The office is staffed by Kelly Weaver, Regional Director and Rachael Cramond, Business Consultant. They can be reached at 605-698-7654 ext. 5.